Operations Manager, Honest Origins

Operations Manager, Honest Origins

Department: Plant Office Administration (Exempt)

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Antioch, TN

Description

The Operations Manager is a hands-on manufacturing leader responsible for safe, reliable, and efficient day-to-day operations at Honest Origins, a food manufacturing operation producing cooked instant rice. During the initial phase of this role, the Operations Manager will also provide operational leadership for a significant facility construction and expansion project, including equipment installation, commissioning, start-up, and transition to stable production. The position requires plant-level leadership capability and is intended to build the breadth and readiness needed to assume broader Plant Management responsibilities as business needs evolve.

This leader will direct production priorities; support maintenance, quality, sanitation, warehousing, and shipping activities; manage operating performance; and build an employee-owner culture grounded in safety, food quality, accountability, continuous improvement, teamwork, and customer service. The Operations Manager partners closely with Engineering, Quality/Food Safety, Maintenance, Supply Chain, Finance, Human Resources, and external contractors to deliver both current operating results and successful expansion outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

Essential functions

• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.
• Lead day-to-day cooked instant rice manufacturing operations to achieve safety, food safety, quality, service, cost, yield, throughput, and productivity objectives.
• Develop daily and weekly operating priorities, production schedules, staffing plans, and cross-functional action plans based on customer demand, inventory requirements, material availability, and equipment capacity.
• Monitor key operating measures, including safety performance, schedule attainment, downtime, labor efficiency, yield, waste, quality results, sanitation performance, inventory accuracy, and on-time shipment; lead corrective action when performance falls short.
• Ensure operations comply with company policies and applicable food safety, quality, environmental, and workplace safety requirements, including plant programs, inspections, audits, emergency response, and required documentation.
• Partner with Quality and Food Safety leadership to maintain process controls, product specifications, traceability, sanitation standards, corrective actions, and readiness for customer and certification audits.
• Provide visible floor leadership; coach leads and employee oweners, remove barriers, reinforce standard work, and create clear accountability for results.
• Build a culture of employee ownership, engagement, trust, continuous improvement, responsibility, and problem-solving through consistent communication and leading by example.
• Partner with Human Resources on workforce planning, recruiting, onboarding, performance management, employee development, engagement, and consistent application of company policies and corrective action practices.
• Lead lean manufacturing and process-improvement efforts that reduce waste and operating cost while improving capacity, reliability, flow, quality, and service.
• Coordinate with maintenance to prioritize preventive maintenance, repairs, reliability improvements, utilities, facility needs, and equipment performance.
• Manage operating expenses and contribute to annual budgeting, forecasting, capital planning, and evaluation of actual performance against plan.
• Ensure accurate control and reporting of raw materials, work in process, finished goods, supplies, and other plant inventory; support effective receiving, warehousing, and shipping processes.
• Build effective vendor, contractor, and service provider relationships while maintaining clear scope, safety, quality, schedule, cost, and escalation expectations.
• Facilitate regular operating reviews, project updates, shift communications, and cross-functional meetings to ensure timely decisions and accurate information flow.

Construction & Expansion Project Leadership

• Serve as the primary operations representative for the facility expansion, ensuring the design and construction plan supports safe, sanitary, maintainable, and efficient food manufacturing operations.
• Work with executive leadership, Engineering, project managers, contractors, equipment suppliers, Quality/Food Safety, IT, Finance, and other stakeholders to align scope, schedule, budget, operational requirements, and business continuity plans.
• Participate in design reviews, equipment selection, layout and workflow decisions, utility planning, hygienic design reviews, and operational risk assessments.
• Monitor project milestones, dependencies, risks, change requests, contractor performance, and readiness activities; promptly escalate concerns and recommend practical solutions.
• Plan operational readiness, including staffing, training, standard operating procedures, food safety and quality documentation, spare parts, maintenance plans, production trials, commissioning, acceptance testing, and start-up support.
• Coordinate construction and installation activity around ongoing operations to protect employees, products, customers, and production continuity.
• Lead the transition from project completion to stable operations, including ramp-up planning, performance validation, issue resolution, and handoff of equipment and documentation to operating teams.

Leadership Competencies & Interpersonal Skills

• Hands-on, visible leadership with the judgment and presence to lead both daily operations and a complex expansion environment.
• Strong safety, food quality, customer service, and employee-owner mindset.
• Ability to translate strategy and project plans into clear priorities, ownership, milestones, and measurable operating results.
• Calm, decisive problem-solving under pressure, with appropriate escalation of safety, quality, cost, schedule, or business-continuity risks.
• Collaborative, curious, adaptable, and respectful approach with employees, contractors, technical experts, and senior leaders.
• Ability to delegate authority, develop leaders, provide candid feedback, and hold individuals accountable for commitments and outcomes.
• Strong change leadership and communication skills, especially during facility construction, process redesign, equipment start-up, and workforce growth.

Benefits

• Employee-owned
• Advancement Opportunities
• Insurance coverage that includes medical, dental, vision and life insurance and flexible spending accounts
• 401(k) with employer match
• Paid holidays and competitive vacation/sick pay plans
• Tuition assistance program
• Employee stock ownership program (ESOP)